'But...': Mike Johnson leaves wiggle room as he says 'intention' is not to cut Medicare
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) would not state definitively that Republicans would not cut Social Security and Medicare as he said the "intention" was to keep the programs intact.
During a Tuesday press conference, CNN correspondent Manu Raju asked Johnson about Republican plans for entitlement programs.
"Look, the president has made very clear, Social Security and Medicare have to be preserved," Johnson replied. "And we are not, no one is coming in with the intention of cutting benefits in any way or anything."
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"But we have to look at all spending and look at it very deliberately while maintaining those commitments," he added. "The Republican Party is not going to cut benefits, okay? We've made that very clear over and over and over."
"We do know, however, at the same time, there are many, many areas of fraud, waste and abuse."